A further seven charity shops in Ireland no longer market themselves as “charity shops” following interventions by the Charities Regulator since last year.
A report on concerns over unregistered charity shops in Ireland has revealed that one shop owner has been prosecuted and a further three shops have ceased trading following interventions by the Charities Regulator.
A public update notice published by the Charities Regulator noted that one shop, the Twist charity shop, closed down following the successful prosecution of the owner, Mr Oliver Williams, in February 2017 at Sligo District Court.
A further three shops – The Second Chance Boutique in Belmullet, Co. Mayo, The Charity Boutique in Naas, Co. Kildare and Carrick-on-Suir River Rescue in Tipperary – have closed following the receipt of cease and desist letters from the Charities Regulator.
Following intervention from the Charities Regulator, meanwhile, a further seven shops (see below) subsequently amended their shop fronts or other notices to make it clear to the public that they were not a charity, making them compliant with the Charities Act 2009.
- Munster Charity Warehouse, Waterford (New name: Munster furniture shop/variety shop)
- SANA Trust Charity Shop, Galway (New name: SANA)
- Laois Hospice Charity Shop, Portarlington (New name: Christina’s Creations, Clothes and Curiosities)*This shop also displayed notices clearly stating they were a commercial business and not a charitable organisation*
- Good Cause Way in aid of the intellectually disabled, Dun Laoghaire (New name: Good Cause Way) *This shop also displayed notices clearly stating they were a commercial business and not a charitable organisation*
- Charity Shop, Virginia (Removed all signage)
- Share 2 Care, Addiction and Suicide Awareness, Drop-In Centre, Castlebar (New name: Share 2 Care Second Hand shop)
- Bandon Ataxia Charity Shop (Removed all signage)
Commenting on the public update, Charities Regulator Chief Executive John Farrelly said: “All charity shops must operate as part of a registered charity and all proceeds must go towards that charity’s charitable purpose.
“If the public see a shop that they think, or any reasonable person would think, is a charity shop, but is not part of a registered charity let us know and we will step in.”
Farrelly urged the public to check the Charities register to be sure that any “charity shop” they are going to support is a registered charity shop.
“Check the register and support registered Irish charities,” he said.
Part of the role of the Charities Regulator is to monitor and ensure compliance with the provisions of the Charities Act 2009. Under Section 41 of the Charities Act 2009 it is an offence for any person to advertise on behalf of, to invite members of the public to give money or property to, or to accept such money or property on behalf of, a charitable organisation that is not registered, or for an unregistered charitable organisation to carry on such activities.
It is also an offence under Section 46 of the act for a body (other than a registered charitable organisation), to describe itself or its activities in a manner that would cause a member of the public to reasonably believe that the body was a charitable organisation.
Since 2016, the Regulator has received concerns from members of the public relating to 28 shops that they believed were charity shops but which were not registered charities.
Concerns relating to 14 shops remain open while concerns relating to three shops were closed after it was established there was no breach of the act.
The public have played a key role to date in reporting shops which were operating as “charity shops”, in breach of the Act.
The public are reminded that if they have a concern that individuals or shops are in breach of the act, they should complete and submit an online concerns form on the Charities Regulator website or contact the Charities Regulator’s dedicated concerns phone line at (01) 633 1550.
